Alaska

Bears killing you faster than pistol, daylight shorter than the runtime of the movie The Lord of the Rings, and winters darker than shit.

That's Alaska.

I haven't been there but experienced the harrowing story of a teenage girl Leni moving to Alaska during my recent reading of Kristin Hannah's novel The Great Alone.

Alas, the life of Leni is even spine-tingling than the hardship of Alaska. Leni didn't have much difficulty in mastering the skill of shooting to keep herself safe and stay at the top of the food chain. Her biggest challenge is to live with a troubled dad back from the Vietnam War. A six-feet-tall broad-shoulder man volatile with smell of alcohol and impulsive from POW and PTSD.

My heart ached with the Leni's family tragedy. The way Leni's mum getting her face purple and her eye blackened, her lip torn and nose broken, showed me how human brutality can be a lot colder than the temperature of Alaska.